Twice Reborn
by Pliva
Summary: The Master is reborn but the drums are far too loud to function. He needs the Doctor. Now. AU, Spoilers for EoT parts 1 2. Master/Doctor. Warning: may contain flashback material


**A/N: This was written for MoonSpirit with the prompt "The Doctor hurts the Master to help him" (There is still one spot open the meme if anyone would like to leave a prompt. Link to my journal in my profile). Now, this is a bit AU. All you need to know is that Donna at JE the Doctor fixed it so she was human again and they are still traveling. Since she was there, he didn't pull the stupid stunt in WoM, so the Ood didn't have to frown at him. However, the cult of Saxon is still alive and well... **

The Master was waiting in the dark, blissfully unconscious. Then, Life. He felt his mind attach himself to atoms as the atoms became a body. He opened his eyes and flexed his fingers, waiting for his lower body to form and his life force to be restored. His vision cleared and he saw Lucy cowering in front of him, staring in horror as the a group of particularly stupid humans drained their bodies to help him.

"No!" Lucy screamed at them, trying to make them understand. "You can't do this! You don't know what he's like!"

"But you do, Lucy," the Master called, grinning at the terror in her eyes. "You've seen me in full glory. And you took me down, didn't you?"

Lucy glared at him, squaring her jaw in an attempt to stop from shaking. "I'd do it again. I'll die to stop you."

"It didn't work the first time, did it?" the Master sneered as the last of the humans collapsed and his body found substance. He was slowly lowered to the floor and he stretched, reaching out with his fingers and toes as he pumped his blood to the farthest regions of his body and back. It felt good to move, to be free. And oh, here he was alive and well on Earth and the Doctor had no idea! This, this could be fun.

He turned to look at Lucy and growled, just to watch her jump back. He took a step towards her before his world came crashing down.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Over and over in his head, louder than they ever had been before. He collapsed to his knees, clutching at his ears. They were loud, too loud and they drowned out everything. Rational thought and higher mental functions were gone under their unending onslaught. Gathering every ounce of strength he possessed the Master built a wall, however flimsy and insufficient it was, to hold them back. With a gasp he slowly staggered upright and caught sight of Lucy.

The poor girl had backed herself up against a wall, eyes darting everywhere as she looked for an escape.

"Lucy," he hissed. "Help me."

"Help you?" Lucy asked, wincing at the harshness in her own rough voice. "Why the hell should I help you?"

"Because I can't function," the Master grit out. "The drums are loud, too loud. I can't... I can't survive like this."

"Should've stayed dead," she sneered. The Master snarled and surged forward, pinning her hands on either side of her head.

"Help. Me," he repeated, leaving no room for argument. "Get me to Cardiff."

Confusion flickered across her face. "Why Cardiff?"

"Don't you ever pay attention?" he said, tightening her grip around her wrists. He might leave bruises if he increased the pressure, the first he would give her in this body. "The Rift is in Cardiff. The Doctor will be there, eventually."

"You want to go to Cardiff and wait for the Doctor?" she asked. "Why do you need him?"

"He owes me a favor," the Master snapped before releasing her and looking at the door. "I won't be able to make it on my own. We'll steal a car and then you need to drive."

Lucy crossed her arms. "I'm not going to-"

"If you don't I'll kill you."

"Do it then," she said tightly. "Get to Cardiff on your own."

The Master stared at her and she stared back, her eyes scared and defiant. This was why the Master had chosen Lucy- she had spirit. Spirit he had quickly beaten out of her.

"Please," he finally said. Her eyes widened. It was the first time he had ever said that one word to her. Not even before, before the election, before getting married, before she even knew he wasn't human.

"To find the Doctor?" she asked, her tone uncertain. The Master could see the gears turning in her head as she weighed her options.

"Yes."

Her eyes narrowed and she sighed, making her decision. "I'm not taking you to Cardiff naked. Put on some clothes!"

The Master nodded and bent over one of the guards. Lucy stiffened and turned away and soon the Master was tucking himself into the uniform.

"Get us out," he ordered, wincing as his defenses began to crumble and the drum's pressure increased.

"We're in a jail, I can't exactly waltz out the door."

"It's the middle of the night and all the guards are dead. You're a clever enough girl, figure it out," the Master snapped. Lucy glared at him again.

"Fine!" she hissed and grabbed his arm, kicking open the doors that weren't destroyed by the Master's rebirth and pulling him down hallways. Finally they stumbled into open air and quickly scaled a fence. The Master went to work on the first car they saw and they were on the road to Cardiff in minutes, stopping only to steal new clothes for the both of them.

If Lucy was amused by the Master's choice of a ratty black hoodie and work boots, she said nothing.

----

When the Doctor announced that TARDIS needed fueling he popped by Cardiff and Donna rolled her eyes and wondered why a gap in time and space would be in Cardiff of all places. The Doctor was privately glad it wasn't in London, because that city needed enough help as it was.

"I've seen worse places," the Doctor protested, and Donna scoffed.

"It's an intergalactic pit stop," Donna replied. "This is me, not impressed."

The Doctor hid his smile. "It only takes a few minutes."

"Then I am popping out for a bit. I'd like to breathe some air that I know isn't toxic or contains some kind of really tiny spacemen, thanks," Donna said before she paused. "Cardiff air is fine, right?"

"Fine enough," the Doctor replied. "You should've seen New New York. Well, New New New New Ne-"

Donna slammed the door shut on his ranting and looked around the square they were parked in. She sat on a lovely little bench pleased to just look at normal, human life for a while. Donna might have dozed off a bit and when she jolted back to reality with a start she found a blonde woman sitting next to her.

"Hello," the woman said, looking at her curiously. "Sorry, it's just... you're Donna Noble, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Why?"

"I'm Lucy," she replied, straightening her green hoodie. Donna glanced down at her clothing- the sleeves seemed a bit too long and the pants seemed a shade too tight.

"Right, lovely," Donna smiled weakly. "I've just got to be going now."

Donna suddenly became aware of a man behind her as he crinkled up a chips wrapper. "Going where?"

"None of your business," she snapped, standing up. His eyes followed her sharply and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"It is," he replied and Lucy sighed apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I really am. But he wanted to see the Doctor and I think it might be the best place for him."

"How do you know about the Doctor?" Donna asked, shocked.

"We know him," the man replied, cracking his neck as he looked around the square. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"The TARDIS?" she repeated, glad that it was hidden behind a stone wall. "Why do you ask?"

"The Doctor's in there, isn't he?" the man replied. "Or did he run off to help the Freak not destroy every kind of life Torchwood comes across?"

"I don't know any freaks," Donna said coldly, drawing herself up. "Who are you?"

"My name is the Master," the man replied, his eyes flashing.

"What, in that?" Donna asked, raising an eyebrow at his clothes.

"We had to steal them," Lucy explained. "It was either that or run around naked, and trust me you wouldn't want him to do that."

"I'm sure wouldn't mind, would you Miss Noble?" the Master asked with a smirk. "I've heard all about you, running off to get married with the first man who so much as looked at you. And he still chose a Racnoss over you in the end."

Donna shrieked in anger. She had really loved Lance and not even her own mother broached the subject, even in her cruelest moments. So Donna slapped the Master hard across the cheek, not seeing Lucy's eyes widen.

"How dare you!" she hissed before beginning to march back to the TARDIS. An angry snarl tore from the Master's throat and she turned in time to see him jump up, murderous rage in his eyes.

"Run!" Lucy screamed as she leapt towards the Master and Donna obeyed, tearing across the square towards the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted as the familiar blue box came into view. "I think we have trouble!"

Donna was a few feet from the TARDIS when something barreled into her. Donna gasped and tried to roll away as the Master's hands reached for her neck.

"Get off her!" Lucy, grunted trying to pull him off. He pushed her away and she hit the ground hard, wincing as she sat up. The Master turned back to Donna and for a second she regretted slapping him.

"Donna?" the Doctor asked, swinging open the door and looking outside curiously. He took in the scene before him and his mouth dropped open before he swung into action. He had pushed the Master away and was helping Donna up before she even realized he had moved.

"Are you okay?" he asked, quickly checking her over before glancing at the Master. "What did he do?"

"I'm fine," Donna huffed, glaring at the Master. "It's not like I've ever been chased or tackled before."

"Tackled?" The Doctor's eyebrows rose and he frowned at the Master.

"She slapped me!" the Master protested, causing Donna to scowl.

"Yeah, but you deserved it!"

"You slapped the Master?" the Doctor asked, looking slightly amused.

"Doctor," Lucy began, silencing Donna as she opened her mouth. "The Master wants your help."

"Help," the Doctor repeated skeptically, eyeing the two of him. "Is that what you're doing?"

"I didn't know he was coming back to life," Lucy replied, her lips a thin line. "I tried to stop those who did, but I failed. He demanded to be brought here to find you and I agreed so I could track him."

"I think you've turned my wife against me," the Master drawled. "You're very good at that, did you know?"

"Why did you want to find me?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to believe the best, he really did, but he knew the Master far too well.

The Master looked away. "I need you to get rid of the drums."

"I- what?"

"I'm barely holding them off," the Master explained quietly, refusing to meet the Doctor's eye. "They're too loud and I won't be able to survive."

"The drums aren't real," the Doctor said softly. The Master's eyes flashed.

"And you're the one whose been living with them, so I suppose you would know," he snapped before crossing his arms. "If you can't help me than no one can, and I'll... deal with that. But right now you're the only one who can help me."

"You won't look me in the eye," the Doctor finally said. "Are you lying?"

"We both know that when I do that to your face," the Master replied. They both knew the unspoken part of the statement, that the Master was more afraid of the Doctor seeing the truth. The Master was still proud and even if he knew how far he had fallen he wasn't about to admit it in front of two humans.

"Wait here," the Doctor said before he led Donna back inside the TARDIS.

"You're helping him?" Donna demanded as the Doctor began fiddling with the controls. setting them to isomorphic. "He's a complete nutter!"

"He's an old friend," the Doctor replied.

"Yeah, so's Nerys and I still don't trust her."

"Donna, he's an _old_ friend," the Doctor said, his voice dark and finally Donna understood his meaning.

"How old is old?"

"Since we were children."

"Children? He was there for..." Donna's eyes widened, and she spoke carefully. "I thought you were the last one."

"I was. Except he's back again, which I don't quite understand. The hair is new and he's got that rubbish beard again, but the body is the same."

"Maybe he really really liked it?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you're not asking way Harold and Lucy Saxon appeared in front of the TARDIS even though he's dead and she's in jail?"

"Is that who they were?" Donna asked. "I thought they looked familiar."

"Did you miss them too?"

"Don't use that tone with me! I was planning for a wedding and then I was traveling through Egypt. I couldn't care about a tiny little election."

"Donna Noble you are one of a kind," the Doctor said with a small smile as he finished entering in the commands.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Donna asked as he moved to the door.

"Possibly," the Doctor admitted. "I'll take the proper precautions."

"You say that," Donna said with a long-suffering sigh. "But you never mean it."

The Doctor offered her a weak smile before he swung open the door and beckoned for Lucy and the Master to come inside. He didn't think that Lucy was lying, not with barely veiled hate in her eyes, but the Master had manipulated her once and he was more than capable of doing it again.

"Good to see the TARDIS healthy," Lucy said, smiling. The last time she had seen the interior it was blood red as the Master worked towards cannibalizing it.

"I know what I'm going to do," the Doctor finally said, his fingers tightly gripping the railing.

"Oh?" the Master asked having finished a scan of the room.

"All of you, come with me," he ordered before sweeping out of the console room. The Master rolled his eyes before following. Donna and Lucy trailed behind, giving each other uneasy glances. The Doctor led them down a hallway before stopping in front of a thick metal door.

"In there," he said to the Master, pointing his finger. The Master hesitated and they shared a long look before he slowly went inside. Lucy caught a glimpse of a tall chair in the center covered with thick leather straps and bonds.

"You're going to operate on him?" Donna asked as the Master disappeared through the doorway.

"In essence," the Doctor said before looking at the two of them. "And I need you two to do something."

"I'm not playing nurse," Donna replied quickly.

"I am going to give you this," the Doctor continued, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "Lock us in and do not open this door until I tell you to, even if the Master begs you to."

"There wasn't much of a chance of that happening before, Doctor," Lucy said, taking the tool from his outstretched hand.

"It'll be harder than you think," the Doctor muttered cryptically before slipping through the doorway himself. Lucy stared at the blank door as it closed before she aimed the sonic at the handle and pressed the button until it locked.

"So..." Donna began as they stood there awkwardly in the hallway. "I'll get some tea for us, then. How do you like it?"

For the first time in two years, Lucy smiled.

----

"Are you sure this is entirely appropriate?" the Master asked as he watched the Doctor double check the strength of the bonds holding him down. The Master flexed his arms, inwardly frowning when he had no movement. "I'm sure this violates some form of patient-doctor trust."

"You wanted my help and I'm giving it," the Doctor replied, his voice carefully neutral. The Master stared at his face, annoyed that the Doctor always hid the emotions the Master wanted to see the most.

"What are you doing?" the Master asked, the first signs of fear manifest themselves. The Doctor seemed far too withdrawn, far too quiet for this to be a typical rescue mission.

"Just relax," the Doctor said, taking a needle off one of the surrounding metal trays and preparing it. "It'll all be over soon."

"I've heard that before." The Master eyed the Doctor as he gently pulled back the Master's hoodie and injected the liquid into his bloodstream.

"I'm sure."

The Master blinked drowsily and suddenly he was falling, the world growing farther and farther away. "What did you do?"

"It'll all be over," the Doctor repeated, his face the last thing the Master saw before he went under. And then, darkness.

The Doctor took a deep breath as he placed his hands on both sides of the Master's head. He closed his eyes and entered, breathing in the temporarily cool air that was the Master's unconscious mind. He dug a little deeper, going past surface activity. He searched for the drums, sorted briefly though the Master's memories without looking at any of them, poking around the Master's processing centers. Nothing.

The drums really were fantasy, a symptom of the Master's crazed mind. The Doctor closed his eyes, because the confirmation still hurt. The brilliant, beautiful man he had known was limited by his own mind as it slowly decayed, rotting from the inside out. Then, as the Doctor gathered himself up and prepared to leave, he heard it. Suddenly it was all around him and the Doctor couldn't understand how he had missed it before, because it truly was everywhere. It was deafening, and now the Doctor marveled at how the Master had held it together for so many years when such noise would have driven anyone else into oblivion. The Doctor tried to find the source so he could cut it out but he was dismayed to find there was none. There was only one way he could possibly get rid of the drums.

His hearts ached, because this was a responsibility he did not want to have. But it was his, he had agreed to help the Master. And the thought of the Master living in such chaos sickened the Doctor more than his fear did.

With a steady hand, the Doctor raised a scalpel up to the Master's mind and began to cut it away. First the Doctor removed his memories, slowly and delicately pulling them away. Then he worked deeper, cutting into the Master's soul. He picked at it, even as he could feel the Master's mind reeling in impossible pain around him. The Master had been jarred from his sleep, he could tell, and now he was trapped, awake, while the Doctor tore him apart. The Doctor grimaced, saw a bit of something that wasn't supposed to be there, and continued hacking away with renewed vigor.

----

Donna and Lucy had jumped when the Master first began to scream. The sound was muffled through the heavy door but it was jarring nonetheless. They stared at the door and glanced at each other as his cries became more pained and soon he was begging, his voice catching on itself as it burst out, the only part of the Master that was able to escape.

"Help!" he screamed, over and over like a litany. "Someone stop, it hurts too much. I'm begging you please stop!"

The Doctor was silent, and Donna and Lucy could only stand in the hallway while the Master begged for mercy. It bothered Lucy that she had none to give him in face of whatever the Doctor was doing to him, and she had to remind herself of all the things the Master did. After that, she wasn't bothered nearly as much, but unease still prickled at the edge of her thoughts. Donna was pacing back and forth, well aware that Lucy had the sonic and wouldn't open the door for anyway but the Doctor. And Donna was glad, because every fiber of her being wanted to march in there and tell the Doctor to stop.

There was a silence behind the Master's screams. Even the TARDIS seemed to be holding her breath.

------

The Doctor had found the drums, nestled in the very center of the Master's being. And now that it was gone the Doctor had the task of putting the Master back together again. Slowly and carefully he patched his mind into place, keeping his personality intact. He hoped he would be different now, less eager for chaos now that the drums were no longer pounding away. He began to pour the memories back in, careful to put them back into the exact spot he found them.

One memory made him pause. The Doctor stilled, momentarily thinking of Wilf.

_"That's him, isn't it?" Wilf said, asking about the drums. "The noise in his head. He's going to kill you."_

_The Doctor had looked away, thinking back to their childhood, of everything that had happened ever since. The Master killing him... it hurt. It filled his lungs with ice and the Doctor's only hope was that the Master did it in person, so that he could at least the last thing he would see was the Master's face._

_"Yeah," he replied quietly. He had resigned himself to this the moment the Master first summoned him on the old metal drum, knocking four times. _

_Wilf held up the gun. "Then kill him first."_

_"And that's how the Master started," the Doctor had said, pouring as much meaning into the words as he could so Wilf would understand._

Because that was how the Master did start. One little act, one moment of self defense that left him with a new knowledge. Every death, ever killing could be rationalized. Eventually the Master lost all guilt and he didn't care. It all happened because of this one little moment in time.

The Doctor turned over the memory in his hands. He didn't need to look into it to know what it contained. He didn't have to- he had been there. He was with the Master when they were both still in the Academy, where they had either snuck out or managed to secure permission to visit another planet. It was probably a pleasure planet, a place they allowed the older Academy students to go so they would have any impulses left to act upon back in the hallowed halls of Gallifrey. They had been walking along, very cheery and slight intoxicated because of one thing or another, when something had lurched out of an alley and grabbed hold of the Doctor. He remembered being wrenched out of the Master's grip, remembered the alien demanding money or cash or a silver pendant the Master had been given by his father.

The Master had refused, snarling at the alien to back away because they were two Time Lords, and no one had ever threatened someone from such a well of family as his own. The alien had growled back and his grip on the Doctor had become unbearably tight. The Doctor remembered howling in pain as the Master came closer and struggling to get away before the alien went limp and the Doctor stumbled away. The Master caught him and helped him back to the transportation site, but not before retrieving his knife from the alien's throat.

If the Master didn't get this memory back, it was possible he wouldn't be the same. He might not be uncaring towards lesser life forms, so indifferent to destroying death.

No.

The Doctor refused to give himself this kind of power. The Master's fate was in his own hands, not the Doctor's. He had no right to decide who he would be. It was too much power for anyone to hold.

The Doctor slid the memory back into place and continued until the Master was whole once more. He slowly withdrew, checking that everything was functioning properly. He tore away from the Master's body with a gasp, clutching a nearby table to keep himself upright as his knees threatened to buckle underneath him.

"You bastard."

The Doctor shakily turned to face the Master, who was struggling against his bonds. "I'm sorry."

"I asked you for help. You had no right to do _that_!" the Master hissed, pale and furious.

"I put everything back," the Doctor replied, trying to look earnest.

It didn't work. "And I would know that how? I wouldn't remember if you changed anything!"

The Doctor stepped forward and undid the Master's bonds before placing his fingertips to his temples. "Look."

The Master frowned but tore in, too tired and worn to be delicate. The Doctor winced but bit his teeth, waiting until the Master was satisfied and pulled out again.

"You had no right," he repeated, but his tone was now laced with exhaustion.

"Are they gone?"

The Master paused, and concentrated. He listened, listened as hard as he could for the faintest whisper.

"No."

The Doctor felt relief wash over him, couldn't hold back his grin. "Good."

The Master looked at him for a long moment before nodding. "Great. So now what are you going to do with me?"

"You're a new man," the Doctor replied, undoing the last bit of restraints around the Master's feet. "What do you want to do?"

"Can't go back to Cardiff, Captain Jack will have me killed. Or shagged, and I don't know what's worse."

"You could stay here," the Doctor offered, feeling almost timid. The Master looked at him sharply and the Doctor felt as if they were just starting out all over again. "I mean, if you don't kill people."

"I've always wondered what I'd be without the drums," the Master said softly, staring at the Doctor. He looked lost.

"Wonder what I'd be without you," the Doctor replied. He instantly knew it was the right thing to say when the barest smile tugged at the Master's lips.

"Yeah."

It wasn't a promise, it wasn't a warning. Neither of them could guarantee to the other that everything would be fine, that one wouldn't destroy everything for the other. But here, in the middle of Cardiff the last two Time Lords in existence stood inside a TARDIS with the entire universe in which to travel, it was enough.


End file.
